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US financial services company Nasdaq said 1 June it had acquired
a majority stake in Puro.earth, a marketplace for carbon
removal.
Nasdaq intends to scale up Puro.earth's operations, based in
Finland, to address a growing demand for carbon removal by
corporations, it said. The platform, launched in April 2019, counts
companies such as Microsoft and the Swedish financial group SEB as
participants.
Puro.earth calls itself the world's first business-to-business
marketplace, standard, and registry focused solely on carbon
removal. Its customers are issued CO2 Removal Certificates (CORCs)
for each metric ton of carbon dioxide removed and verified by an
independent third party that meets Puro.earth's methodologies.
In an email to IHSMarkit, a spokeswoman for Puro.earth said its
marketplace has led to the removal of more than 70,000 mt of CO2,
"and we expect it to grow over the coming years as the carbon
removal market scales up."
Puro.earth is working with about 10 carbon removal suppliers
currently, she wrote, and has "145 in the pipeline."
Issued CORCs can be traded and canceled on Puro.earth's CO2
Removal Marketplace. Buyers to date have included multinational
companies with operations in the US, Europe, and Asia.
Prices on the exchange are about €20/mt ($24.28/mt) of CO2
removed, according to the spokeswoman, but she added: "An average
price is not very descriptive when the market is so
fragmented."
Puro.earth's methodologies cover carbon removal from numerous
technologies: biochar; concrete and other building elements; wood
building elements; carbon capture and storage; and geologically
stored carbon from biogenic sources.
Nasdaq said it will work with Puro.earth to further strengthen
the governance around new methodologies by establishing an external
advisory committee with representation from the industry, academia,
and suppliers.
While the Puro.earth program is voluntary, the spokeswoman
observed the potential convergence of voluntary and mandatory
programs around the world. "Both 45Q in the US and EU climate law
recognize or [create] separate quotas for CO2 removals, and this
can be seen as an indicator that CO2 removals would be integrated
into mandatory programs in the long run," she wrote.
As explained by the US Department of the Treasury, Section 45Q of the US tax code provides credits
for capturing and sequestering carbon oxides. Final regulations
were issued on 6 January 2021 to define how a carbon-capture
operation can qualify for the credits, measure the amount of carbon
that has been captured, and sets standards for claiming and using
the credits.
Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Finnish energy
company Fortum will remain a minority owner.
